


Soulbond

by SilentRain91



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst and Feels, Apocalypse, Endgame Clarke Griffin/Lexa, F/F, Heda Lexa, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Souled Vampire(s), Tenderness, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-03 15:01:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12750654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentRain91/pseuds/SilentRain91
Summary: The world was no longer flourishing and vibrant. The vampire apocalypse had brought death, destroying city after city. Clarke would continue to fight for survival, refusing to be a prey to those creatures. Lexa was no saint as the head of her vampire clan, though her arch nemesis was worse and it was Azgeda whom started the apocalypse in the first place.When Clarke and Lexa meet, neither one of them dared to dream of the tangible bond they shared. But Clarke despised vampires because they took her life from her, they took everything she loved and crushed it. Vampires had no heart. The one they did have was cold and didn’t beat. She always believed that, until Lexa looked at her as if she hung up the stars, leaving her unsure whether she wanted to kill or kiss her.Soulbond: unbreakable and irresistible, a force that unites two people in a unique way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (DO NOT POST ANY OF MY FANFICS ANYWHERE EVER, I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR THIS!)

Clarke felt the cold in her bones as it bit mercilessly into her skin. Her teeth clattered unstoppably, watching snowflakes fall down while she tugged helplessly at her leather jacket. A shiver ran down her spine and she knew she should have been wearing more than a pair of worn jeans, a tank top, the leather jacket she found and soppy sneakers, which were giving her blisters.

She shouldn’t be outside right now, not when the night was about to fall. The sun had already begun to dip halfway below the surface and she dreaded the moment where it would be gone completely. If anything, the cold was the least of her concern. The old apartment she was hiding at had been compromised last night when screams had filtered through the air.

Running had become her friend, one she had to visit about every week, if not daily. There were fourteen people with her in that building last night. Fourteen and not one of them made it out. She would never forget their screams. It didn’t help much that they were strangers. One of her rules for survival was not to get attached.

She ran when she heard grunts in the distance and the faint sound of what could have been boots struggling through the snow. In her haste she stumbled, hissing when she landed on top of a piece of metal. With no time to waste, she clambered onto her feet, biting her lip when she felt the damage the metal had caused.

Her abdomen was bleeding, which she knew would compromise her survival. Not because of the bleeding itself, but because of what it would attract. She pressed her right hand against her wound and kept running, despite her body disagreeing with her. Three years ago, when she was eighteen, her life was good and there wasn’t really a cloud in the sky. It all crumbled down fast when city after city fell when it was overrun by those nightly creatures.

There was an abandoned trailer park ahead of her. It was dumb she didn’t even have a single weapon on her. The few she used to possess were all at the apartment she’d sprinted away from and she hadn’t taken her chances with returning to retrieve them, knowing it could end with her walking into the lion’s den.

She felt dizzy while she kept losing blood. If she could stop the bleeding she would be okay, but she had no medical supplies at hand. She had nothing but the clothes on her back, which weren’t enough. If those creatures didn’t kill her soon, she’d starve because she hadn’t eaten in four days, get an infection from her wound and die slowly or freeze to death. Her odds weren’t in her favor, yet so far she kept herself alive for three years.

The snow was somewhat thawed around one of the caravans. She frowned at the sight, thinking how those creatures didn’t need any warmth yet there had to be warmth present in that caravan. It was eerie silent, too silent for her taste. If this was a trap from one of those creatures, which unfortunately were smarter than they should have been, it was already too late. She was close and she was bleeding, badly.

Her left hand shook as she curled her fingers around the knob, twisting it to get inside the caravan. She paused when she heard something creaking inside the caravan. Before she had the chance to properly open the door or retreat, the door swung open and she was yanked inside. She groaned at the pull, which worsened the pain in her abdomen.

“Rae, wait, she’s human! She doesn’t have those nasty veins around her eyes! ” A feminine voice whisper-shouted. “And she’s hurt.”

Clarke found her back pressed against the now closed door while a Latina watched her with scrutinizing eyes.

“Are you bit?” The Latina asked, lifting Clarke’s chin. “I asked if you were bit,” she said, tone more demanding than the first time.

Clarke shook her head.

“Are you sure?” The Latina asked, pushing Clarke’s jacket down her arms to study her arms.

“I’m sure,” Clarke answered, hissing when the Latina moved her hand away. “I fell,” she explained, wincing when the Latina touched around her wound.

“Why did you come here?” The Latina asked, holding a knife out.

“Rae,” the other girl said. Her voice was much softer than the Latina’s. She had long black hair and looked like a teenager.

“We don’t know her, O,” the Latina said to the younger girl.

“The snow…,” Clarke whispered, panting. “It’s thawed near this caravan.”

“Shit,” the Latina muttered, turning the knob of a heater from six down to three.

“I’m Clarke,” Clarke whispered, although most people she came across in the three years she’d wandered around and ran didn’t bother with names much. Not that it mattered, since names could be the first step towards attachment.

“I’m Octavia, but my friends call me O,” the younger girl whispered, the corners of her mouth moving up just an inch. “Not that I have many friends left,” she added, her eyes flickering to her feet before she dragged them back up. “And this is Raven, my best friend.”

“There’s a medical kit in here somewhere,” Raven whispered, rummaging through the cupboards. “But fair warning, I suck at patching people up. I was a mechanic, not some doctor.”

“I can patch myself up,” Clarke replied, glancing at Octavia who was draping a blanket around her shoulders.

“You’re freezing, brrr,” Octavia whispered, moving her hands away from Clarke. “You feel like the cold ones.”

Clarke shivered at the thought of ever being one of those nightly creatures, or cold ones as Octavia called them. “Thank you for the blanket,” she whispered, moving when Octavia gestured for her to sit closer to the heater.

“Are you a doc or something?” Raven asked Clarke, handing her a medical kit.

“My mother was,” Clarke answered, gripping the medical kit tightly. “They got her three years ago when California fell. We lived in a condo in Malibu.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, those cold ones ruin everything,” Raven mumbled.

“You’re far away from home,” Octavia whispered to Clarke. “I found some old sign in the snow two days ago and apparently this used to be Washington DC.”

Clarke opened the medical kit to tend to her wound, relieved it was complete so her wound wouldn’t get infected. The few times she actually listened to her mother’s medical ramblings were paying off. “Where are you from?” she asked, glancing between Octavia and Raven.

“Texas,” Raven answered, sighing. “I quit school early to take over my dad’s shop and then one day when I was nineteen, I was working late and I saw O running like her life depended on it. She was only sixteen at the time. I knew her through her older brother.”

“The cold ones…,” Octavia whispered, eyes turning glassy. “I was studying for school. They killed my mother and Bell tried to hold them off for me, but while I ran they got him and then he came after me. He wasn’t my brother anymore.”

“I shot him with my gun and that son of a bitch kept going,” Raven whispered, throwing an arm around Octavia. “There was this crazy guy who’d been blabbing about vampires for weeks, trying to warn people. Everyone had laughed at him. Hell, even I did, but nobody was laughing when he staked some of those cold ones, including O’s brother.”

“We bagged what we could, hopped into a car and drove,” Octavia whispered.

Clarke’s eyes went round when she saw Raven flicking lights on, while the night was falling. “Hey, that’s dangerous,” she warned in a low whisper.

“UV-lights,” Raven replied, the left corner of her mouth moving all the way up. “These babies burn those cold fuckers,” she said, tapping her nails against the lamps.

“But they could cut the power,” Clarke whispered, still not relaxed about it.

“Hence I use my own backup batteries,” Raven said, puffing her chest out.

“If it wasn’t for Rae I’d have died many times,” Octavia whispered to Clarke. “She’s been keeping me alive.”

“Please, you whacked the cold one who grabbed my leg about a month ago,” Raven whispered to Octavia.

Clarke didn’t feel so cold anymore now that she had a blanket and was warming up by the heater. “Is that a propane heater?” she asked silently, thinking how such heaters would cause them to suffocate. It was all survival one-o-one.

“Nah, it’s not,” Raven answered, shaking her head. “No worries, Clarke, you’re in good hands with us.”

Clarke was puzzled how the two girls survived for the last three years, although she could ask herself the same question and she spent most of her time alone. She licked her lips when Octavia opened a can of pears. Whenever she found food, it was often expired and fruit was rare to find. She survived mostly on spam, which tasted disgusting.

“You look like you haven’t eaten in a while,” Raven whispered to Clarke, opening a can of pears and a can of peaches.

Clarke knew she might have looked worse for wear with her cheeks which had slightly sunken in over the years. Eating was a struggle when she had to ensure she wouldn’t become a meal.

“Here,” Raven whispered, putting the cans down in front of Clarke. “Have some food.”

Despite her intense hunger, Clarke ate slowly, aware that eating quickly would be unhealthy. “Thank you,” she whispered, breathing a little easier. For tonight her wound was being taken care of, she was warm for the first time in about thirteen weeks and she had a meal that didn’t taste like it had already been eaten before.

“You should get some rest,” Octavia whispered to Clarke. “I can give you warmer clothes if you’d like.”

Clarke couldn’t stop herself from tearing up. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, wiping her tears away with shaky fingers. “You’re both so kind to me,” she explained, not having slept a wink in three nights.

Octavia engulfed Clarke in a hug and rubbed her back. “We’re human, if we don’t look after each other then we’d truly be lost,” she whispered. “Together we’d stand a chance, but those cold ones target more groups than loners. I think they know we want to build a resistance.”

“Most people are just terrified though,” Raven whispered. “We haven’t met many people, but the ones we did meet always wanted to bounce.”

Clarke stiffened when she heard the sound of boots threading through the snow, getting closer. It was the same sound she’d heard earlier, before she ran to get to this trailer park. By the time the door swung open, she’d grasped Raven’s knife, as if that would ward off one of those nightly creatures.

A man with darkened skin and a thick coat stepped inside the caravan and closed the door. He had two dead rabbits and a raccoon slung over his broad shoulders.

“That’s Lincoln,” Octavia whispered to Clarke, her lips splitting into the brightest smile, as if the world as they knew it hadn’t fallen apart. “Rae and I bumped into him a couple of months ago, just a few clicks outside of Washington.”

“Um no, you bumped into him,” Raven whispered to Octavia, grinning when Octavia rolled her eyes. “She literally bumped into him, like full on face plant,” she whispered to Clarke.

Clarke chuckled silently at the image of the pixie of the girl Octavia was, bumping into the burly man.

“It may not have been my brightest moment,” Octavia admitted, sighing.

Clarke wasn’t sure whether to feel safer now that she was with three people or if she was less safe if it was true those creatures had it out for groups even more. She used to think loners were more appealing to them, easier to take down. It was basically the only reason why she ever bothered with groups, to enhance her survival, until said group fell apart or was attacked.

“Oh right,” Octavia whispered when Lincoln cleared his throat. “This is Clarke.”

“I saw you running earlier today,” Lincoln whispered to Clarke. “I would have called out to you, but it’s unsafe to shout.”

Clarke understood that. She knew shouting or screaming would only attract those creatures. If she had known the sound she’d heard was Lincoln she wouldn’t have ran, but the problem was she never knew in advance and it was never a risk worth taking to stop.

“Which one of you is the leader?” Clarke asked silently, considering the groups she’d been with in the past all had a leader of sorts. At first she’d have thought it was Raven, but it could also be Lincoln.

“We don’t have one,” Raven answered, shrugging. “We’re a team.”

“That sounds like you’re staying,” Octavia whispered to Clarke, tossing a sweater onto her lap. “I hope you are, because four is better than three to play cards.”

“Again with the cards, O?” Raven muttered, shaking her head. “We’re in the middle of a damn vampire apocalypse and you want to play a card game.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Heda, Azgeda has taken North Carolina.”

Lexa rose up from her throne, which was built out of the bones of animals. Her long red robe swept over the floor while she strode towards her trusted second. The tiles underneath her feet were cold to the touch, but didn’t bother her. She stopped short of her second, who was awaiting her approval to continue.

“Speak, Anya,” she commanded her second, who had her head dipped as a sign of respect for her status.

Anya lifted her head up to meet Lexa’s eyes. “All of North Carolina has fallen, my queen,” she said, reaching into her pocket, “as did Gustus.”

Lexa’s nostrils flared up, taking the lock of Gustus’ hair from her second. She had known Gustus for more than two centuries and he had been the closest she had to a father. Azgeda was a vampire coven, which was the only coven left aside from hers. Trikru and Azgeda had been at war for centuries. Five centuries ago, there were twelve clans, ten of which Azgeda destroyed.

Four years ago, she caught wind of queen Nia turning humans to increase her numbers, considering Azgeda failed time and time again to destroy her coven. Three years ago all hell broke loose when the world became wary of the existence of her kind. Azgeda spared no man, woman or child. It was about turning them at first, until Nia chose to slaughter humankind.

Her eyes darkened when two of her people dragged a screaming woman inside of her castle. She closed her eyes, jaw tensing at the high pitched sound which could’ve cut through glass. “Silence her,” she said to her second through gritted teeth.

“Yes, Heda,” Anya replied, bowing slightly. She ripped off a strip from her shirt and gagged the woman, turning her screams into muffled sounds.

Lexa approached the woman, who was wriggling against the hold her people had on her, as if that would somehow help her. “You cannot escape, mundane,” she said to the woman, looking down at her when her people forced her onto her knees.

The woman had long red tresses. There was dirt under her clipped nails and the socks she wore were wet. She smelled of fear mixed with poor hygiene, the former being Azgeda’s favorite scent.

“Draw a bath, she reeks,” Lexa commanded. “When she is done, you are to bring her to the dungeons and feed her a warm meal.”

Food had become scarce for humans to gather and most humans she met were so hungry they’d eat off of her floor if she’d toss them something. She’d even seen two humans fighting over an apple once. Recently, she had been taking in more blood slaves than usual, at least one each week instead of one each month, but she had to considering her enemy was aiming to exhaust her blood supply.

Unlike Nia, she kept humans alive as long as possible, until they were too weak to be fed off. Some of her blood slaves would beg to be turned, which was a plea she refused to grant. And unlike her enemy, she always spared children. If she caught a parent with a child, she spared them as well. Feeling for the weak was her weakness, one Azgeda would love to exploit if they’d be wary of it.

“Heda,” one of Lexa’s people said, kneeling in front of her.

“Rise,” Lexa replied, extending a hand to help the woman to her feet. “You may speak, Indra.”

“Aden requests your presence in the dining hall.”

Lexa nodded once. “Bring me a cup,” she demanded as she strode past Indra to join Aden in the dining hall.

She pushed the double doors open, the hinges creaking under the pressure. After a singular step inside the dining hall, a young boy shot up from the chair he’d been seated on and sprinted towards her.

“Leksa,” the boy said, wrapping his arms around her legs, smiling up at her.

Lexa’s lips curled naturally into a smile, which never came forced when it was directed at Aden. She ran her hand through the boy’s sandy locks. “Hello, Aden,” she said, caressing the seven year old’s cheek.

Aden was a human child whom had been brought into her castle three years ago. Her second had found him when Azgeda had him cornered. Anya didn’t know what to do with the boy and had asked her for guidance. They always said vampires had no heart, but when she saw Aden’s lip quivering while he was whimpering for his mother, she couldn’t help herself and decided to keep the boy, though not as a blood slave. If anyone would dare to drink from Aden or hurt him in any way, she would crush their heart in her bare hands.

“Indra made spaghetti for me,” Aden announced, grasping one of Lexa’s hands. “I finished my chores for today. You said I could have a bedtime story if I finished them.”

“You remember well, sweet boy,” Lexa replied, following Aden to the dining table. “Are you certain your chores are finished?”

Aden bopped his head. “I did all my readings,” he said, clambering back onto his chair. “And I even helped Anya with the dishes.”

“I heard you spilled water onto the floor and caused Anya to slip,” Lexa recalled, thinking of her earlier conversation with her second from this afternoon. She waited for a response from Aden, who averted his eyes and seemed focused on a cobweb.

“Anya always said she’s steady on her feet,” Aden eventually replied, after a beat of silence. “Now we know that’s not true.”

“Aden,” Lexa urged, keeping her gaze on the boy.

“Okay,” Aden whispered, sighing audibly while his shoulders sagged. “I’ll apologize to Anya.”

Indra announced her presence by a series of three knocks.

Lexa inclined her head when Indra placed a cup onto the table for her, filled with blood. From the corner of her eye, she caught Aden staring, although what she was had been revealed to him a year ago when his curiosity had grown. He’d told her drinking blood was icky, though he hadn’t seemed disgusted by it otherwise. The boy was her weakness and therefore Azgeda didn’t know of his existence.

“Anya measured me again today,” Aden said, swinging his legs back and forth under the table. “She said I’m two inches taller than last time.”

“Oh my, that’s impressive,” Lexa replied, sipping from her cup while Aden was trying to curl a few strings of spaghetti around his fork. “If you continue to grow like that, you will be taller than I am someday.”

“I’m also going to be older than you someday,” Aden pointed out. “I know you’re ancient, but you don’t look ancient.”

“Ancient?” Lexa asked, raising an eyebrow. She used her speed to lift Aden into her arms and tickle him. “You think I am ancient?” she asked, reveling in the boy’s laughter.

Aden was still smiling when Lexa put him down again. “Leksa, I want to ask something,” he said, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

“You are free to ask anything, Aden,” Lexa reminded him. Unlike her people, the boy didn’t need to ask or await her permission to speak. She saw him as a little brother, a gift.

Aden moved his fork around on his plate, forming silent scraping sounds, which didn’t sound silent in Lexa’s ears. He stopped when Lexa rested a hand atop of his. “I want a friend,” he whispered, his eyes flitting from his plate to Lexa.

“Anya is your friend, as am I,” Lexa replied calmly, tilting her head when Aden pouted.

“I want a friend who is like me,” Aden clarified. “A human, someone young,” he said, batting his eyelashes.

Lexa wasn’t sure if there was another child alive in the world. Children were among the weakest and among the first who’d fallen. She’d heard of parents whom would kill their young to spare them of a fate worse than death. If she was lucky, her people may be capable of finding a teenager or a young adult.

“Please,” Aden whispered. “If you give me a friend I’ll never ask for a birthday present ever again.”

“Okay,” Lexa gave in, although she’d never stop giving Aden birthday presents, if only for the way his whole face lit up each time he opened a gift. “I shall find you a friend,” she promised.

She would demand her people to find younger humans and would help to search for one as well, to keep Aden from waiting longer than necessary. One human was going to be quite lucky to end up as the boy’s friend rather than live as a blood slave or be a prey to Azgeda. She would search high and low to collect the youngest humans she would be able to find, to let Aden choose.

If North Carolina had fallen, it meant Azgeda was closing in on Washington DC more than they already had, which was her territory. She would not let Nia turn it into another city of the dead. Humans were threatening to go extinct. She missed the good old days where vampires were considered folklore.

Aden poked around his spaghetti and watched Lexa while she lit the candles that were placed onto the dining table. “Once I have my friend we can train together,” he said, putting his fork down.

Lexa wasn’t sure if she’d allow another human to be trained. Aden’s training sessions were not ordinary. Ever since he arrived she had been teaching him how to fight so he would be able to defend himself against her kind once he’d be older. The boy was a mere pup, but pups grew up and she knew he would be a man someday.

“Eat your food, Aden,” she said, running her fingers through a flame of one of her candles.

Aden sighed and lifted his fork. “Sha, Heda,” he whispered.

Barely a handful of Lexa’s people knew she was training Aden, because most of her kind wouldn’t understand and wouldn’t be supportive. The last vampire hunter they’d ever known of had died at her hands in 1786. By training the boy she was teaching him how to be a vampire hunter, although the purpose wasn’t to have him murder her kind.

Aden finished his meal, leapt out of his chair, broke the chair on the floor and moved towards Lexa with the leg of the chair.

Lexa swept her foot against Aden’s leg and grasped his hand before he could collide with the floor. “You were too slow, I could have snapped your neck while you were breaking the chair,” she said, steadying the boy. “Indra will expect you in the training room tomorrow after breakfast.”

Aden casted his eyes down and dropped the leg of the chair. “Is Gustus going to be there, too?” he asked, clasping his hands behind his back, his lips curling up as he gazed at Lexa.

Lexa knew the boy was fond of Gustus, who would secretly bring him cookies. She rested a hand on Aden’s shoulder and shook her head, watching his brows furrow.

Aden bit his lip. “What about the day after tomorrow?” he asked, dropping his arms to his sides when Lexa shook her head again. “The day after tha-”

“Gustus is no more.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

“I’ve got nothing,” Raven whispered, throwing her cards onto the mattress.

“Full house,” Octavia whispered, her lips splitting into a grin as she put her cards down.

Clarke stared at her cards, but even if her life depended on it she wouldn’t have been able to say what was on the cards. Raven had a point. It was ridiculous to play poker while the world had gone to shit. She shook her head and dropped her cards.

“We should move tomorrow,” Lincoln whispered, glancing at the others. “More vampires have been flocking to this area.”

“I agree,” Clarke whispered, although she wasn’t sure if her opinion mattered much. “It’s safer to stay on the move.”

“There’s a building about five miles from here,” Raven whispered to Clarke. “Allegedly, there are supplies and survivors there. We’ve been thinking about checking it out.”

“We could move when the sun rises,” Octavia whispered, grasping a backpack and stuffing clothes and cans in it. “Will you be able to run, Clarke?”

“I’m always able to,” Clarke answered, ready to fight until her last breath. She wouldn’t let a shallow wound stop her.

“Linc and I will take watch tonight,” Octavia whispered, nodding at Raven.

Clarke moved closer to the wall, to share the bed with Raven. She wasn’t going to let Raven sleep on the floor and she didn’t mind sleeping close to someone. At least the Latina smelled like coconut rather than vomit or pee. The mattress had a dip in it, but she’d choose it over a piece of carton any day.

She knew she needed to give her aching body a break by getting some rest, if only she were able to sleep. These people whom she just met seemed certain this caravan was safe enough to make them survive the night, but she felt too exposed. Buildings were less easy to end up broken apart by those nightly creatures, although most buildings she’d came across were half in ruins, if not fully.

This was the third winter she’d have to survive since the vampire apocalypse began. The first winter had been brutal and one which was engraved into her memory forever. She was hauled up at a hospital with other survivors. They had food and warmth, which could have gotten them through the winter, if it hadn’t been for those creatures that cut their power lines.

That first winter possibly had taken more lives by freezing people to death than those who were taken by those monsters. She kept moving and kept looking for new buildings. Even during the summertime she knew sleeping outside was a death sentence. So far she made it through two winters and she’d survive this third winter as well, and sadly, more winters to come in the years after this one.

Raven turned around and ran her fingers through Clarke’s hair. “What was Malibu like?” she asked in a whisper.

“Peaceful, luxurious, beautiful,” Clarke answered, grasping Raven’s hand. “It used to be my home since I was born, but it’s all gone now,” she whispered, swallowing, remembering how she watched Malibu burn.

Ashes were raining everywhere after a series of explosions. Some of it had gotten into her hair. She’d been lucky she was near the beach and had dove into the water on time, where she found an old boat. After three days, her hunger had drawn her back to land, but there was nothing left of Malibu. The clothes she’d worn back then smelled of smoke and death by the time she exited Malibu for good.

Raven turned her head as far as she could, catching a glimpse of Octavia who was sitting near the door with Lincoln with an UV light strapped to her chest. “O thinks if we find enough people to build a resistance, humanity can win,” she whispered extra quietly, facing Clarke.

“Hope can get us killed,” Clarke replied, thinking of how those nightly creatures not only cut power lines, but how they also burned food supplies so humans would freeze and starve. “But it also keeps us going,” she added, knowing that without a spark of hope, everyone would give up and giving up would mean the monsters would win.

“O’s still a kid,” Raven sighed, squeezing Clarke’s hand. “She deserves better than this.”

Clarke had been a little surprised Octavia was nineteen, because she’d guessed her a year or two younger, if not three. “You deserve better than this, too,” she whispered, squeezing Raven’s hand back. It’d been a while since her hands felt this warm and it helped Raven’s were even warmer. “You care about her.”

“She’s the only family I got,” Raven whispered, hurrying to wipe a tear away. “You should really get some rest. I’ll wake you if there’s any sign of trouble, if that eases your mind.”

Clarke would sleep if her thoughts weren’t so loud and the night not so quiet. Every bit of sound, even a brush of wind, made the hairs on her arms stand up. Sometimes when she slept, she’d wake up wishing it was all just a bad dream, but it was real and it was a nightmare which never ended. Even if humanity somehow made it to the other side of this shitstorm, she’d never have her life back.

The old Clarke Griffin who smiled and painted in vibrant colors was gone. She buried that person three years ago, accepting she had to be someone else in order to survive. The apocalypse changed people, which wasn’t always for the better. She’d been to places where humans turned against one another, fighting for dominance or food. There were times where she felt like humanity was already gone.

A blood curling scream sounded in the distance.

Octavia peered through the window, reaching for her bow behind her back. “Two cold ones,” she said, lining an arrow up.

Clarke sat up, frowning when Raven held an arm out. She gripped the sheets when Lincoln swung the door open.

“O’s got this,” Raven said to Clarke, keeping her arm in place. “Trust me.”

“It’s those nightly creatures I don’t trust,” Clarke whispered, pushing Raven’s arm away. She got up from the bed, groaning when pain shot through her abdomen.

Octavia stepped outside into the thin layer of snow, releasing her arrow, which hit a vampire in its chest. She was lining up a second arrow when the other vampire sped towards her.

“What the hell?” Clarke whispered, gasping when she saw Octavia rushing towards the vampire rather than away from it. There was a first for everything, but that was suicidal and insane.

Octavia dropped to her knees, sliding under the vampire’s legs. She turned around and plunged a knife into the vampire’s back, jumping on top of him, slicing its neck.

Lincoln caught up with Octavia, pushing the vampire down. He used an axe to cut its head off, doing the same with the other vampire.

Octavia jumped into Lincoln’s arms, kissing him soundly on his lips.

“Well um… okay,” Clarke whispered, blinking her eyes rapidly. She wondered if Octavia learned all of that during this apocalypse or if she used to do martial arts or something. One way or another, it was good the younger girl was capable of doing that. 

“Psst, love birds!” Raven whisper-shouted at Octavia and Lincoln. “Come back inside.”

Clarke lifted her index finger when Octavia and Lincoln were walking back, swallowing while she saw a figure behind them, clad in a white gown which had blood all over it. Her mind short circuited as the nightly creature snuck up on Octavia and Lincoln. It all happened fast while Octavia and Lincoln weren’t even noticing the danger lurking behind them.

Raven’s mouth opened, words forming, interrupted by the sound of a chair breaking.

Clarke ran outside with a piece of wood in her hands. “Duck!” she all but shouted, even though she shouldn’t have made so much noise.

Octavia fell down on top of Lincoln when he let himself fall into the snow.

“Harper?” Clarke whispered, freezing in front of the vampire. Tears welled up while she looked at the girl she used to go to school with, who growled at her and pressed her teeth together. She clenched her fingers around the piece of wood, splinters digging into her skin.

Harper narrowed her eyes, grinding her teeth. She smelled like fresh blood while redness dripped from her gown onto the snow. Veins appeared around her eyes.

Clarke saw those darkened eyes, which looked hollow, yet Harper’s eyes flitted from hers down her cheeks as tears streamed down them. She heard Octavia and Raven murmuring, but she wasn’t concentrating on what they were saying. Taking a deep breath, she plunged the wood through the vampire’s heart.

Harper’s body fell onto the snow with a thud, black blood leaking out of her chest before she slowly turned grey, her body becoming ashes.

“Clarke,” Octavia whispered, gripping Clarke’s upper arm. “Hey, Clarke, we have to get back inside,” she whispered, tugging.

“I knew her,” Clarke whispered, shaking while she stared at what used to be a friend. “I think she hesitated,” she whispered, confused why Harper had glanced at her tears and why the vampire hadn’t gone for her neck without pausing.

“I doubt that,” Octavia replied, pulling Clarke back inside with Lincoln’s help. “Those cold ones don’t have a heartbeat, they don’t feel anything.”

Clarke knew she had to push past her emotions, but turning her heart into a stone never became any easier. She knew that thing wasn’t Harper anymore and the hesitation she thought she saw must have been the fact that blood curling scream had come from her, likely when those other two vampires had attacked. Maybe Harper was disorientated and still completing her transformation.

“Clarke, Bell was my brother and when those cold ones bit him, he came after me,” Octavia whispered, fisting her hands in the sweater Clarke was wearing. “I was his little sister and he was going to kill me. If you hadn’t staked that cold one she’d have attacked you.”

“Those cold ones are monsters,” Raven whispered. “Everything about them is cold, hence we call them cold ones.”

“You’re right,” Clarke replied, closing her eyes, shaking her head. “My mind played tricks on me because she was a familiar face,” she whispered, knowing better than to delude herself any vampire could be good.

“Your fast thinking saved us,” Octavia whispered to Clarke, gently patting her shoulder while she smiled.

“I warned you before not to get too distracted,” Raven whispered to Octavia, shaking her head. “You were this close to being bit,” she said, leaving an inch between her index finger and her thumb. “Same to you,” she whispered to Lincoln, clapping his arm.

“I admit I should have paid more caution,” Lincoln replied, snaking an arm around Octavia.

Clarke struggled with the thought it might have been her fault those vampires came so close. She must have lost some drops of blood on her way to this camper and there probably was some blood onto the piece of metal she’d fallen on as well. “What you two did was impressive,” she whispered to Octavia and Lincoln.

“I used to do karate and all that,” Octavia whispered, smiling broadly. “When the apocalypse began I had to adapt fast, so I made sure to concentrate on how to take those cold ones down, though unlike Lincoln I wouldn’t really hunt them.”

“Hunt?” Clarke asked, frowning.

Lincoln rolled up his sleeves, showing off tattoos which mapped his arms. “I’m a vampire hunter,” he whispered to Clarke. “I’ve been hunting vampires since I turned eighteen, which was seven years ago.”

“Vampire hunter…,” Clarke whispered, her eyebrows creasing together even more while she let that sink in. “I had no idea vampire hunters existed.”

“Hunter,” Lincoln corrected. “I am the last of my kind.”

“He’s still human like us,” Octavia whispered to Clarke, chuckling at her expression. “But he has some advanced skills.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lexa carried Aden in her arms, smiling down while she caught him yawning. He was no longer that frightened four year old boy who’d hide behind her legs or sneak under her robes, but he was still little and light to hold. In all fairness, many things felt light weighted due to her strength, though Aden was a small boy.

“Heda,” Anya whispered, inclining her head as she opened the doors of Aden’s chambers.

“Thank you, Anya,” Lexa replied, acknowledging her second with a nod. She was always grateful for the services her people provided, though she didn’t always express as much.

Anya’s eyes lit up for a second, the hint of a smile appearing yet disappearing just as fast.

Lexa had no doubt Aden was the most precious thing in her life. Next to him, the person she held dearest was Gustus, followed closely by Anya. Others were expendable, though she did care for her people. The loss of Gustus pressed on her chest and she would make Azgeda pay for it someday.

Gustus and Anya had both been turned by her in the past, long ago. When she met Gustus, his village, which had less than a hundred people in it, was under attack. The way he was fighting was what had drawn her and for his bravery, she’d granted him immortality. She used to have an advisor, Titus, who’d gone behind her back to betray her a century ago.

Titus would have succeeded in his treason if Gustus hadn’t caught him red-handed and delivered Titus to her. Without mercy, she had ended Titus’ life before her coven would be destroyed. He was a good man who cared about her and their coven, whom deserved better than dying at the hands of Azgeda.

The first time she’d met Anya, Anya was just a girl, no older than eleven winters. She saw her pounce her fists against the chest of a vampire, one of Nia’s goons. It impressed her how Anya had shown no fear, how she kept throwing punches until her fists bled. She killed the vampire and promised Anya she would come for her someday.

A few days after Anya had celebrated her twenty-eight birthday she sought her out and offered her a place in her coven. Anya hadn’t strayed from her side ever since, always loyal to Trikru and a worthy second. Being a second was an honor vampires had to earn, which they could by proving themselves in a conclave. Anya had fought six of their people in the conclave and she had won by being swift and precise. Some of her older vampires who’d participated had been too confident they’d win, which was their downfall.

“Go to the kitchens, fill a basket with food,” she commanded Anya in a whisper. “I shall be there shortly. You are to wait for me,” she said sternly, deeming it too dangerous to let her second go outside alone.

She knew Anya was a very skilled and old vampire, whom she had known for three quarters of her life, but Azgeda was not to be trusted. Her second was like a best friend and a sister in her eyes, too valuable to wander around alone.

Aden stirred and opened his eyes when Lexa put him down in his bed. “Leksa,” he whispered, grasping one of her cold hands.

“I know,” Lexa replied, using her free hand to comb through his locks. “I have not forgotten.”

Aden tugged at the sheets, pulling them up until only his eyes and his nose were visible.

Lexa shifted, crossing her right leg over her left as she sat on the edge of Aden’s bed. “Once upon a time in a fair land far away from here, there was a farmer plucking apples with his daughter, Alexandria. The farmer pressed a basket filled to the nock with apples in his daughter’s hands, asking her to sell them on the market,” she whispered, caressing the boy’s cheek, watching his eyes droop.

Aden put his thumb and index finger around his right eye, doing the same for his left eye as he tried to keep his eyes open. “Don’t stop, Leksa,” he whispered around a yawn.

“Alexandria went to the market, selling the ripest apples to the people in the kingdom,” Lexa continued. “Until suddenly, she saw a girl in a blue hood stealing an apple,” she whispered, smiling when Aden’s eyes widened.

“It’s her,” Aden whispered, sitting up. “What did Alexandria do?”

Lexa knew her bedtime stories for Aden always mentioned the same girl in one way or another. “Alexandria chased the girl, accidentally tripping her,” she answered, coaxing the boy to lie down again. “But when the girl turned around, Alexandria fell back, landing onto her arse,” she whispered.

“Arse,” Aden snickered quietly, though not quiet enough.

“The girl who had stolen an apple was princess Anacostia, fairest of them all,” Lexa whispered, tickling Aden’s sides for a second. “She had long blonde locks, green eyes with specks of gold and freckles all over her cheeks. Alexandria asked her why she had stolen an apple. Anacostia answered she wanted to be chased, wanted to play.”

Aden nuzzled his face into his pillow and closed his eyes.

“Sleep well, Aden,” Lexa whispered, tucking him in. She kissed his forehead, pulling away when Aden shivered ever so slightly. Sometimes she wished she wouldn’t feel so cold, so she would be able to hug the boy and kiss his forehead without making him shudder.

Anya was waiting for Lexa in the kitchen with a basket full of food, as she was commanded. “Heda,” she whispered, dipping her head.

“Follow me, Anya,” Lexa said, beckoning her second closer while she exited the kitchen. She appointed several of her people to follow her as well, deeming it better to be prepared, in case of an unpleasant run in with Azgeda, despite this territory being hers.

Anya walked next to Lexa, her free hand resting on the hilt of her sword while the others followed in line behind them.

Lexa heard the snow crunching underneath her feet. She may have been a vampire, though that didn’t mean she didn’t feel. In the winter she seldom wore shoes, preferring to feel the icy touch against her skin, eager to feel something. Aside from Aden, another weakness she had was her desire to feel because feeling meant she still had humanity inside of her.

She’d known vampires who would lose their humanity, who would become so cold on the inside to the point where it matched how could they were on the outside. It made her want to shiver how some were capable of attacking their own family without hesitation. Some simply weren’t strong enough to fight the urge of numbing their feelings. Once a vampire numbed their feelings too much, there was no going back.

After several minutes, she reached a store with her people. “This will do,” she whispered, entering the store. “Place the food here,” she commanded decisively.

“Heda,” Anya whispered, frowning while she reached into the basket. “May I ask why we are placing food in this store rather than taking food?” she asked, which was what they usually did whenever they went to a store, to increase the food supply for Aden and for their blood slaves.

“We are setting up a trap, Anya,” Lexa answered, putting a can of peaches on one of the shelves. “Humans will come and take the food. Their footprints in the snow shall lead us to their location once they do.”

“They will erase their tracks,” Anya replied while she helped Lexa to fill the shelves. “Humans are wary of traps.”

“We will know they are near once the food is gone,” Lexa said, pushing a fallen row of shelves back up. “Dig holes outside,” she commanded the few people she brought with her. “Cover the holes with carpets and snow.”

“Now that’s an actual trap,” Anya commented, silencing when Lexa looked at her.

“Survey the area,” Lexa said to Anya. “Search for young humans and bring them to me.”

“Sha, Heda,” Anya replied, dipping her head.

Lexa stilled when she heard grunts further ahead. Her bare feet threaded through the snow while she drew closer to the sound, her people a single step away, awaiting her next command. Bottles hidden under the snow broke underneath her feet. She felt the shards pressing against her skin, unable to pierce through it.

There was a muffled scream while the grunts faded and turned into sucking noises. She held a hand up, commanding her people to stay behind her. The sounds were increasingly louder as she neared a building, which was overgrown by withered plants and every single window was broken. The lock of the door was forced and there were droplets of blood in the snow, droplets which led inside of the building.

She pushed the door open, beckoning her people closer with her hand. The blood smelled fresh, A-positive she noted as she inhaled the scent. There was a faint heartbeat, slipping away. She entered a room, which had her refusing to take another sniff of air due to the stench of mold and rotten eggs. Many times she felt lucky she didn’t need to breathe.

“Echo,” Lexa said, staring down at the Azgeda. “This is my territory.”

Echo rose to her feet, blood dripping down her chin. Her movement caused the four vampires who were with her to rise to their feet as well. “We were thirsty,” she replied, licking her lips and her fangs.

Lexa pulled her eyes away from the man on the floor, who was drained of his blood. “Be thirsty elsewhere,” she said, taking a step towards Echo. She wrapped her slender fingers around the Azgeda’s throat. “If I catch you in my territory again, I will rip your throat out.”

Echo bared her fangs when Lexa let her go, though she seemed wise enough not to make a move to attack. She glared at the commander, refusing to acknowledge her status.

Lexa ripped the throats out from two of the five Azgeda, which was a mild reaction to them trespassing. “Heed my warning,” she said, snapping her fingers and just like that, Echo left with the other two Azgeda who were left.

More might come another night, but they would be foolish to defy her in her territory. Not to mention how she was older and stronger, tougher to take down. Even if a small army would come for her she would be capable of taking them down singlehandedly. It would take elder and stronger vampires to take her down, although she would be sure to put up a fight. Nia was one of those vampires, however she knew the Azgeda queen rarely fought her own fights, always choosing others to fight for her.

It was more likely for Roan, Nia’s son, to come for her someday or Ontari, Nia’s second. Before Azgeda destroyed the other ten covens, they had all sworn fealty to her. Each coven aside from Azgeda had acknowledged her as their commander. Few survivors had made it to her coven, though the majority was lost. It had been queen Nia’s way to punish them for bowing to her and her attempt to make Azgeda the only existing coven.

“Blood must have blood,” Lexa said to her people. “Jus drein jus daun.”

“Blood must have blood,” Anya agreed, nodding at the others. “Jus drein jus daun.”

“Jus drein jus daun!” Lexa’s people chanted. “Jus drein jus daun! Jus drein jus daun!”

 


	3. Chapter 3

Clarke peered out of the small window of the caravan, double-checking the sun had risen. She wasn’t going to risk going outside in semi-darkness, which happened precisely two times since the vampire apocalypse began. The first time she was ignorant and oblivious enough to think it was safe. Back then she was exiting a building with six other people, from whom only one other person aside from her made it out alive. The second time was because she had gotten drunk after some asshole poured far too much alcohol into a cocktail for her. How she survived escaping while a vampire was near, she didn’t know.

The sun was up and had pulled most of the shadows away. Vampires weren’t going to be outside unless they had a death wish. It was a relief those monsters couldn’t bear the sun, otherwise the world would have been truly fucked. She met a few people who tried to sleep during the day so they were able to stay awake at night, which initially wasn’t a bad idea, but they also needed to make food supply runs. Some of those people fell asleep outside and that was dangerous because whenever they didn’t awake before nightfall, it took a fatal turn.

She hadn’t slept much, having sat upright at the slightest sound she heard outside, ready to fight if necessary. There hadn’t been any incidents aside from the one she took care of with Octavia and Lincoln, although those two love birds nearly got themselves bit. Distractions were dangerous, but with so much of humanity lost, it was a nice change of pace she came across a happy couple.

Raven zipped a backpack open. “We got about nine hours before nightfall, give or take,” she said, setting the timer on her watch. “Eight to be on the safe side.”

“This damn winter gives those bloodsuckers more time,” Octavia muttered. “We have to wait longer for sunup and the night falls sooner.”

Clarke agreed that it was a frustrating situation. She shivered at the memory of people who miscalculated time due to seasons changing. “I got it,” she said to Lincoln, who made a move to help her tend to her wound. “It’s not bleeding anymore, so that’s good,” she noted while she cleaned her wound with what was left in the medical kit, though she knew that didn’t mean she was out of the doghouse. Those monsters would smell her wound regardless, whether her blood was dried up or not.

“Batteries, a flashlight, protein bars,” Raven mumbled as she put it all in her backpack.

“We try to travel as lightly as possible,” Octavia said to Clarke.

Clarke nodded and helped pack a small bag.

“Okay,” Raven said while she strapped an UV-light to her chest. “Leggo.”

The fur and the boots Clarke was given helped against the freezing cold as she trekked through the snow. There was more snow than yesterday, about six to eleven inches more. She had been with many groups in the past, some bigger than others, some stronger than others. However, this was the first time she was a part of a small group that had an actual vampire hunter, which made her feel she had an extra advantage for once.

Another plus side was that they weren’t at each other’s throats or fighting over food. Those monsters weren’t the only things killing humanity. Some of the survivors themselves were ending humanity by becoming barbaric. It was bad enough vampires were killing people and it wasn’t helpful some people killed people as well.

Raven grunted while she tried to move through the snow. “This damn weather is making it bloody impossible to run,” she muttered under her breath.

“It should only take an hour to walk five miles,” Clarke said, although the snow might disagree with that. “We can take a two hour marge. That still leaves enough time to return to the caravan if necessary.”

Lincoln pulled a compass out of his pocket.

Clarke watched how Octavia kept covering their tracks. It was good she did that so nobody was able to follow them, especially at dark if they were to stay at the building they were headed. Though at the same time if they weren’t going to stay, erasing tracks was going to make it tougher to find the way back, depending on how good Lincoln was with that compass of his.

They passed several broken down cars and cars which were snowed in. This was no weather that could be driven through and even if a working car was found, finding gas wasn’t easy. There were three bodies in the snow as they walked on, pale blue lips, but no blood.

“Frozen to death,” Lincoln said, struggling further through the snow.

Clarke gratefully accepted water and a protein bar from Raven after they walked for what felt like hours. The snow was trying to get through her boots, causing her blisters to worsen, but at least these boots were better than the old sneakers she wore up until last night. The wind was blowing while snow fell. She couldn’t see any further ahead than she was able to throw the others.

Every now and then, Lincoln gave instructions which way they had to go while Octavia assured Clarke he was good at tracking.

“I thought you said there was a building only five miles away?” Clarke asked Raven at some point as the cold was really starting to get to her. “We must’ve walked six by now,” she said, if not more.

“Yeah, I guess I was kind of wrong,” Raven answered, frowning. “It should be near.”

“I hope so, because at this rate we wouldn’t make it back to the caravan in case that building is a total bust,” Clarke replied, rubbing her hands together to create some warmth. She looked at Lincoln who was making arrows with a knife and a piece of wood in between glancing at the compass. “I could make some arrows, too.”

“Here’s some wood,” Octavia said to Clarke, handing her some from her backpack. “You got a knife?”

“Mhmm, I do,” Clarke answered, finding her knife in her backpack.

Octavia continued to cover their tracks, including the slivers of wood they left in the snow.

They reached the building after five hours, which meant they were obliged to run if they wished to return to the caravan before nightfall. As they inspected the building, they found only one entrance.

Clarke was equal parts relieved and concerned about that. One entrance meant there was only one way for people and other things to get in, but it also meant there was only one way out. She flicked her flashlight on because it was dark as they entered.

“It’s a storage room,” Octavia said, smiling as she looked around.

“Damn, there has to be lots of food in here,” Raven said with a low whistle.

“We have to keep our guard up,” Lincoln warned. “We don’t know what might be lurking inside of this building.”

“Good call,” Clarke agreed, holding her weapons close. “Those creatures have to hide somewhere during the day.”

“True,” Octavia replied, lining up an arrow. “Those cold ones hide in dark places and this has dark place written all over it.”

“I doubt this place has survivors,” Clarke said, eyeing Raven who shrugged. “If there were any survivors here, they must have left in a hurry.”

They slowly inspected the building, covering every inch to check if there was nobody else around. After a while they were sure the building was empty. There was, however, a lot of food, stacked onto racks.

Clarke hadn’t seen so much food in one place for a long time. It seemed surreal.

Raven reached for a can from a rack, eyes widening when the rack moved. She hissed as the rack fell down on top of her, crushing her leg underneath it. Tears slid down her cheeks while Lincoln tried to lift it off of her leg.

“Rae!” Octavia whisper-shouted while she sprinted towards Raven. “Hold on, we’ll get this off of you.”

Clarke quickly gave a hand as well. “On the count of three,” she said, feeling how heavy the rack was. “One, two, three,” she counted, grunting as she lifted with all the strength she could muster.

Raven scooted over the floor, freeing her leg.

“Fuck, that was heavy,” Octavia said when they dropped the rack. “Rae?” she asked, kneeling down next to Raven. She cupped her cheeks and brushed her tears away.

“My leg,” Raven cried out.

Clarke crouched down to examine Raven’s leg. She bit her lip when the Latina winced. “It’s broken,” she said, which was exactly what she feared happened. “She won’t be able to walk,” she said to Octavia and Lincoln.

“We could carry her,” Octavia suggested.

“Walking won’t get us back to the caravan before nightfall,” Raven pointed out. She glanced at her watch and sighed. “We only have fifty minutes left. The only way to make it back is to run.”

Lincoln shared a nod with Octavia.

“Then we’re staying here,” Octavia said to Raven.

Clarke normally ran away from groups when things went awry, but this group was different. She couldn’t abandon Octavia, Raven and Lincoln. They took her into their caravan last night, gave her warm clothes and fed her. Granted, they had more equipment back at the caravan to survive, but this building would have to do.

“Clarke?” Raven asked, looking at her. “You can leave if you want,” she said, shrugging.

Clarke shook her head. “I don’t know the way back to the caravan and I’m kind of tired,” she answered, smiling slightly when Octavia gave her a knowing look.

“Touching the food in this storage room appears to be dangerous,” Lincoln said. “It is better not to touch any of it.”

“Maybe other survivors set up traps to make sure nobody would steal their food,” Octavia said.

“Yeah, that’s possible,” Raven agreed. “Wouldn’t be the first time people go all cray-cray over food.”

Clarke rummaged through their things to find what she needed to splint Raven’s leg. “Ugh, no painkillers,” she grumbled, knowing Raven needed those.

“I can’t believe I’m this stupid and careless after all these years,” Raven said with a bitter chuckle. “Now I’m just dead weight to you guys.”

“Hey, that’s not true,” Octavia objected. “You’re my best friend. You’ll never be dead weight to me.”

“Lincoln, can you give me a hand with Raven’s leg?” Clarke asked, gesturing at Raven’s foot. “I’m sorry, this is going to hurt for a bit,” she said to Raven. “I’m going to splint your leg.”

“There has to be a hospital somewhere,” Octavia said, pacing around.

“I’ve seen a hospital a few days ago somewhere, but it’s definitely not operational,” Clarke replied, having passed it and seen no lights while most windows were broken. “We need a doctor,” she said, unfortunately not capable of performing surgeries.

“As if we’ll ever find one,” Raven scoffed. “You’re the closest person to a doctor I’ve met since the cold ones fucked everything up,” she said to Clarke.

Clarke wasn’t even remotely close to being a doctor, she wasn’t even an apprentice. She was just a girl who learned a thing or two from her late mother.

The night was falling as they huddled under a blanket together. They had nothing to warm themselves with, unless they would burn the wood they had. Raven grumbled when her UV-light stopped working. The building was dark and all the light they had was their flashlights.

Clarke positioned her flashlight to shine it at the entrance while she sat with her back pressed against the wall. She hoped their flashlights and their spare batteries were enough to last through the night because she wanted to be able to see if someone were to enter, especially those nightly creatures.

Octavia grasped her bow and lined up an arrow when screeches sounded outside. “Cold ones,” she whispered, pulling the bow back while she aimed it at the entrance.

Raven was biting her hand to keep from crying out.

Clarke saw blood was seeping through the bandages around Raven’s leg and that was when she knew without a doubt they were screwed because there was no way those nightly creatures didn’t smell her blood. She held one spear in each hand, prepping herself to fight.

“Linc, stay close to Raven,” Octavia whispered. She pecked Lincoln’s lips and smiled at him.

Lincoln ran his fingers through Octavia’s hair and nodded.

Clarke jumped up to her feet when she saw five nightly creatures enter the building. It was hard enough to survive a fight with vampires without being outnumbered, but she wasn’t going to give up and she wasn’t going to run away. No, she was tired of running. If she was going to die, she would rather do so fighting.

Octavia took the first one down with one of her arrows.

The vampires bared their fangs in response.

Clarke used one spear to fight back against a vampire who was trying to attack her. She got so caught up fighting, she barely registered Octavia and Lincoln were fighting as well. One of the vampires threw her against the wall, which had her grunt in pain. When she touched her fingertips to the back of her head, she felt something warm and sticky. The fact she was bleeding only made those monsters crazier. She shivered as they licked their lips.

“O, behind you!” Raven warned, not bothering keeping her voice down.

Octavia spun around, but it was too late. One of the vampires clamped its hand around her throat and lifted her up.

Lincoln shot a well-aimed arrow, which gave enough momentum for Octavia to free herself and fight back.

Clarke felt slightly dizzy, but the danger was still present. She wasn’t sure if they could ever survive this, but the way Lincoln and Octavia fought was admirable, and it gave her an extra boost to keep fighting as well. She knew the risk she took when she didn’t take the out Raven was offering her before the night had fallen.

Octavia’s scream echoed through the building when a vampire bit her arm just as she was lining up an arrow.

“Octavia!” Raven screamed, crying out for her friend.

Octavia shook her head at Lincoln who wanted to aid her. “Protect Rae,” she called out.

Clarke’s heart was racing with adrenaline. One of the vampires pushed her against the wall, making her head hurt worse. The creature took her spear and stabbed it into her shoulder. She gasped as the vampire yanked it out while smirking at her. In that moment she realized these nightly creatures wanted to torture them and they were going to die a slow, painful death.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lexa left with a promise to Aden she would find him a friend soon. She took a handful of her most loyal people with her. The layer of snow was thick, but she sped through it like it was nothing, like gliding through water. Her robe billowed behind her as the wind swept through it.

“Heda,” Anya said, dipping her head at Lexa. “I smell blood,” she whispered, inhaling audibly.

Lexa stilled and let her nostrils pick up on the smell. It was fresh and she sensed it wasn’t far away.

Indra crouched down and brushed her hand through the snow. “Vampire hunter,” she hissed, holding up slivers of wood for Lexa to see.

Slivers of wood weren’t enough to convince Lexa there was a vampire hunter nearby. Plenty of humans resorted to creating weapons fashioned out of wood, in a weak attempt to defend them. Vampire hunters were extinct to her knowledge. She curled her fingers into a fist and raised it up, moving her fist forward.

Her people obediently moved onward.

Lexa sped faster through the snow because blood generally meant humans were wounded or under attack. The latter was possible, if Azgeda failed to heed her warning. Before she reached the location, her sensitive ears picked up on a fight taking place. The smell of blood was overwhelming by the time she reached the building. She was confused why it made her knees feel weak. She was the commander. She was never weak, not even for blood.

She entered with her people in tow, angered when she saw Azgeda was fighting with humans. “Azgeda,” she said, pleased to see them at least flinch as she spoke. “Frag emo op,” _(Kill them all)_ she commanded her people, gesturing at Azgeda.

“Vampire hunter,” Indra growled, baring her fangs at a tall dark man who smelled exactly like a vampire hunter.

“Hon em daun,” _(Capture him)_ Lexa said to her people. “Ai gaf em kiken.” _(I want him alive)_

Two vampires restrained the man.

Lexa’s people killed the Azgeda vampires, save from one, Echo, who they brought down to her knees in front of Lexa.

“Ai lom yu op,” _(I warned you)_ Lexa said to Echo, voice void of emotions as she yanked her back by her hair. She reached into Echo’s chest and ripped her heart out, crushing it into dust, which had one of the humans gasp.

Echo’s body turned into ashes.

Lexa saw a girl with dark hair who had a bite mark. The girl was screaming, which meant the venom was running through her bloodstream. Turning was always painful. It brought a sensation of being burned from the inside out.

Anya sped towards the girl and put her head in a headlock. “Shall I dispose the girl, Heda?” she asked, awaiting Lexa’s command.

“Leave my friend alone, cheekbones!” a Latina growled at Anya. “I will kill you, you cold blooded monster!”

Lexa noticed the man was struggling to get to the girl, his heart rampant in his chest. Whenever she came across newborns or humans who were turning, she had them killed. Newborns had a blood thirst strong enough to slaughter an entire village and with their blood source having become so scarce, she couldn’t let them live.

This girl was different though. She saw an opportunity in her as the vampire hunter couldn’t take his eyes off of her. The girl could be used to her advantage, to will the hunter to cooperate. She would have killed the hunter without a second thought if it wasn’t for the fact he could be used to train Aden. A vampire hunter would never take orders from a vampire, unless their weakness could be used against them.

“No,” Lexa ordered, which had Anya frown for a split second before she became mindful again of her position. “Indra, take the girl,” she commanded.

Indra did as she was told and flung the girl over her shoulder, despite the girl’s kicking and screaming.

Anya crouched down next to the Latina and gazed at her splinted leg. “Heda?” she asked while her eyes didn’t leave the girl who was glaring daggers at her.

Lexa wasn’t certain what she wanted to do with the Latina. She was young, which made her a possible friend for Aden, even though she was not a child, although she doubted she was ever going to find an actual child. If not, the girl could be a blood slave.

“Take her,” she answered eventually, deciding she would decide the girl’s fate later.

Anya tried to scoop the girl into her arms, but the girl was trying to push her away. “We can heal you,” she whispered, tucking a lock from the girl’s hair behind her ear, which merely enraged the Latina further.

“Don’t touch me,” the Latina hissed, shoving Anya.

Lexa tilted her head and observed Anya curiously. She never saw her so gentle with a human before, especially not a human who called her a monster. The Latina’s screaming was unbearable for not only her, but for the rest of her people too as Anya scooped her up.

“Step em riden,” _(Make her sleep)_ Lexa commanded Anya, wanting the high-pitched noise to stop.

Anya pressed her finger at the ridge of the Latina’s neck, causing her screams to subside as she fell asleep.

“En em,” _(And her)_ Lexa said to Indra as the screams of the girl who was turning became too much. It took about an hour up until ten hours for someone to turn. She nodded when her people asked if they could put the struggling vampire hunter to sleep as well.

Lexa’s eyes landed on the blonde girl whose blood smelled unlike any blood she ever smelled before. The girl was unsteady, yet she held out a spear as if she was capable of fighting. She held her hand up, not wishing for her people to interfere. Never, not once, in her entire existence as a vampire had she felt so compelled to drink someone’s blood.

She wrapped her slender fingers around the spear, easily stealing it away from the girl who slumped back against the wall. The blonde was bleeding from three places, her abdomen which smelled a little less recent than the wounds on the back of her head and the wound on her shoulder. Her people were better trained than Azgeda, they didn’t attack humans like animals upon the first whiff of blood.

The girl was strikingly beautiful, her eyes so blue they reminded her of the azure lake in Canada. They were the color of the sky on a warm summer day, the kind of sky she didn’t get to admire for a long time until now, and the color of Norwegian glaciers. Her cheeks were a healthy rosy pink and she knew even without touching her that she was soft like velvet and smooth like silk. Her lips were a gentle pink, reminding her of rose petals and her upper lip resembled cupid’s bow.

Her blonde locks cascaded in light curls over her shoulders, framing her angelic face. She couldn’t help herself as she reached out, brushing her hand through her hair. The girl’s carotid artery was pulsating, luring her in like a song sang by a siren would. She felt an inkling of pain when the blonde flinched the second she caressed her cheek. She knew she was cold to the touch, but she didn’t think she would flinch. Perhaps she was deluding herself to even think for a second the girl would be positively responsive.

“Stay the hell away from me!” the blonde shouted at Lexa.

Lexa nearly took a step back, shocked her own body was trying to betray her into following a command spoken by a mundane. She did not follow anyone’s orders, she gave orders. The girl’s voice reminded her of days spent listening to Mozart and Bach, of sneaking into operas at night to hear violins and opera singers.

The blonde raised her fists, swaying on her feet. “You won’t get me alive,” she grumbled.

Lexa admired the fire which sparked behind those mesmerizing blues. The girl’s fighting spirit spoke to her very soul. As she let a series of weak punches which felt like feathers brushing against her skin rain against her chest, she realized she shared a soulbond with this girl. Soulbonds were rare and presumed a myth by most. She wondered if the blonde felt it too because her punches slowed down.

The girl stepped closer, right into Lexa’s personal space. If it had been anyone else she would have ripped their throat out, but not her, not this girl. “Your eyes are so green,” the blonde whispered, narrowing her eyes. She was certain her people would have attacked the girl if she hadn’t ordered them not to interfere.

Lexa held her arms out when the girl collapsed due to exhaustion and blood loss, catching her to keep her from colliding with the floor. As the commander, she never carried anyone she and her people took, but she cradled the unconscious girl close to her chest and wrapped her red robe around her due to the night being too cold for humans. No matter how strong her urge was to drink her blood, as if she needed to drain an entire lake of blood to satisfy her thirst, she wouldn’t hurt her.

Aden would be pleased to find out she found him a vampire hunter who could train him and two young humans who could be his friends, although she wasn’t certain about the Latina, but with the way Anya gazed at that girl as if she wouldn’t leave her side, it was unlikely she would use the Latina as a blood slave. The girl who was turning was nothing more than leverage to exploit the hunter’s weakness.

While she made her way back to her castle, she couldn’t take her eyes off of the unconscious girl in her arms. Her heart soared and she knew she would burn the world down for this girl. She would do everything within her power to keep her safe. It was a strange feeling, to feel like she would give up her immortality for one day with this girl when she knew nothing of her, not even her name.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Clarke woke up to the face of a familiar vampire, the last one she tried to fight before she had succumbed to darkness against her will, when her own body betrayed her after she depleted her energy. She was lying in a bed in a room which would have been dark if it wasn’t for the various candles spreading light. The window was boarded up. She pushed herself up to sit; all the while the creature watched her.

The vampire seemed to smile when she bared her teeth at her.

She didn’t bare her teeth to make her smile; she bared them to show her she wasn’t scared of her. The vampire didn’t have nasty veins around her eyes like most of the vampires she saw did. She touched her shoulder, realizing someone patched her up. The back of her head still hurt, but there was a bandage wrapped around her head.

The vampire wordlessly offered her bread and water on a tray. When Clarke didn’t take it, she placed it down on the bed.

Clarke reached for the water and emptied it on the floor. She had no idea what kind of sick game this vampire was trying to play, but she wasn’t going to play along. This creature, who unfairly looked like a Greek goddess rather than a monster, had taken her here for reasons she had yet to find out.

The vampire’s face was stoic and her eyes only briefly flicked towards the water on the floor.

Last night, assuming it was a new day by now, Clarke heard the vampire speak a strange language, one she wasn’t familiar with. The other vampires seemed to obey what this vampire said, which meant she was dealing with their queen or something. When she saw the brunette vampire arrive with a handful of vampires in that storage building, she thought they were all going to die due to how outnumbered they were, but then the vampires who arrived slaughtered the other vampires.

At first thought she would have guessed that perhaps they were fighting over food, just as some humans fought for food which was going scarce. Actually, the more thought she gave to that, the more sense it made. Humans were the food supply for vampires. Maybe vampires were turning on each other for the last sources of blood.

She hated how the vampire kept observing her. In a rush of anger, she broke the tray on her knees and wrapped her hands around the wood, ignoring the splinters which made their way under her skin. The vampire simply stared at her when she moved the piece of wood towards her chest. The creature had green eyes with little specks of gold in them. Her eyes reminded her of days at the park, lying on her back in the green grass while the sun shone down and warmed her skin. They reminded her of the woods when she sat on a log to sketch as sunlight was seeping through the trees.

She shook her head because vampires were cold and couldn’t possibly remind her of warmth. The brunette vampire almost looked human, but she was pale and cold, she didn’t breathe or drank water or ate. She wasn’t alive and yet for some inexplicable reason she couldn’t stab her. It was as if her heart didn’t agree with her head, which was ridiculous. Abandoning a chance to kill one of those cold-blooded creatures was a waste.

With a loud sigh, she dropped the piece of wood and heard it clatter onto the floor. She was confused why the vampire hadn’t done anything to stop her. Green eyes followed her when she shifted on the bed. It wasn’t fair the brunette was looking at her as if she hung up the moon and the stars. Her gaze dipped to the vampire’s lips and she hated herself for it. These creatures must have done something to her when they captured her. That was the only logical reason why she couldn’t bring herself to stake this vampire’s heart.

“Whatever sick thing you did, it won’t work,” she said through gritted teeth. “If you want to kill me, go ahead, kill me.” Not that she had a death wish, but she wasn’t going to be some vampire’s toy.

“I have no intentions of harming you,” the vampire replied, her voice surprisingly soft and nowhere near as sharp and commanding as she sounded back at the storage room.

Clarke’s eyebrows knitted together at how the vampire spoke of not wanting to harm her rather than not wanting to kill her. She touched her fingertips to the vampire’s cheek, which had the vampire’s eyes widen for a moment before they returned to their former size.  When the vampire went to cover her hand, she quickly pulled away and it was as if the vampire cast her eyes down for a second in response.

Pale fingers stretched out towards Clarke, but they were retracted before she could touch her. “Ai hodnes,” _(My love)_ the vampire whispered.

Clarke didn’t understand her, although that was probably the point, otherwise she would have spoken in English.

“What is your name?” the vampire asked and it was in that moment she tucked a lock of Clarke’s hair behind her ear.

Clarke swatted the vampire’s hand away. She must have been drugged or something to even think about being attracted in some way to this bloodsucker. “Bite me,” she hissed.

“I cannot harm you,” the vampire whispered. “My name is Lexa, you are in my castle.”

Clarke wondered why this vampire sounded so sincere about not harming her. Maybe something worse was planned for her or maybe this was some kind of sick situation where they wanted humans to mate to create more humans they could drain of their blood. She shivered as the worst ideas passed her mind.

Lexa tucked an extra blanket around Clarke. The vampire moved so fast she hadn’t registered her taking another blanket. It wasn’t until she went to throw wood onto a fire that Clarke noticed there was a fireplace warming the room.

Clarke didn’t know why the vampire asked for her name. It wasn’t like her name was going to change anything. Not like she had any family left that could be hunted down. “It’s Clarke,” she said with a sigh. “Happy now?” she grumbled.

A smile broke through Lexa’s stoic mask. “Overjoyed,” she said, slipping out of the room.

“What even..,” Clarke whispered. She shook her head. This was the strangest vampire she ever met and the first one she knew by name, aside from Harper, although Harper didn’t count since she knew her name in advance.

Raven, Octavia and Lincoln weren’t in the room with her. She hoped they were okay, although she feared Octavia wasn’t okay at all after she got bit. She wanted to know what the vampires had done to her new friends, wanted to know if they were alive and safe.

 

 

* * *

 

 

With the order nobody was allowed to enter the human’s chamber, Lexa made her way to check up on the Latina who was in a room at the other side of her castle. The young woman’s screams pierced through the air, taunting her ears. By now her healer had set the human’s broken leg. The screams were muffled, though nowhere near muffled enough.

The human was lying down in bed, her screams muffled against Anya’s hand who was trying to silence her.

“Heda, teik ai frag em op en dison laik odon,” _(Commander, let me kill her and get this over with)_ one of her people said.

Lexa saw Anya shift just a little bit, as if she wanted to shield the human and protect her. It was a brief, fleeting moment, but it caught her eye nonetheless.

“Teik em au,” _(Kill her)_ another one of her people said.

“Chil yu daun,” _(Stand down)_ Lexa said sharply. “Gon we,” _(Leave)_ she commanded. She held a hand up to Anya to halt her when her second made to leave as well.

Anya stopped and went back to the bed to sit next to the human who was screaming out in pain.

Lexa snapped her fingers, making one of her people appear with food and medicines. “Eat,” she said to the human.

“Go to hell!” the Latina shouted. She tossed the water, cup and all, at Lexa.

Lexa’s eyes darkened while veins appeared around them. She glanced down when Anya’s fingers curled around her wrist.

“Beja, Leksa,” _(Please, Lexa)_ Anya whispered. “Teik em kik raun.” _(Let her live)_

“You dare defy your queen in front of a mundane?” Lexa growled in a low snarl. If she backed down now, it would be a sign of weakness, a sign of her taking an order.

“No, Heda,” Anya replied quietly. She knelt down and revealed her neck to Lexa as a sign of respect. “I am pleading you to let her live. I shall take responsibility for her.”

“If this mundane causes any trouble towards our people or me, I shall rip your heart out and crush it,” Lexa warned, even though Anya was like a sister to her.

“Sha, Heda,” Anya whispered, rising back up to her feet. “You must take this medicine,” she said to the human while she offered it to her. “For your pain.”

Lexa watched as the human shuffled closer towards Anya. She was ready to attack if the human would pose a threat to her second.

“Why do you care?” the human asked Anya in a silent whisper.

It always confused Lexa how humans thought whispering helped. It only helped among humans, not with vampires around. Humans were poorly mistaken if they believed whispering kept them from being heard.

“I don’t,” Anya answered, stubborn as usual.

The human scoffed. “Sure you don’t,” she mumbled, accepting the medicine. “You’re different, cheekbones.”

“My name is Anya, not cheekbones.”

“I’m still going to call you cheekbones,” the human whispered. She swallowed the medicine and grinned slightly.

“I am surprised you are not calling me a cold blooded monster,” Anya replied.

Lexa could hear in Anya’s voice how painful it was for her to be called such a thing and from the looks on the human’s face, she noticed as well.

“Wait… Are you telling me you actually feel things? I thought you were all dead inside.”

Lexa cringed at that one and wished for the human to stop talking if all she was going to do was upset Anya. Her kind had no heartbeat, didn’t need to breathe, eat or sleep, but that didn’t mean they were completely dead. Vampires were capable of emotions, capable of feeling. Not all vampires were the same and some tried to repress their humanity so much they forgot they were human once, but in the end each and every single vampire was capable of feeling.

“Yet you claim I care about you,” Anya quipped. “Try not to choke on your food, mundane,” she said coolly.

“Actually, my name is Raven… and you’re not even listening, fine, walk away then,” the human said, sighing. “Not like I care,” she mumbled silently.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Clarke stood next to the door with the piece of wood clutched in her hands. She had a clear plan in mind. Maybe not the brightest one, but it was a plan nonetheless. The moment one of those creatures would set foot in this room, she would jump them and threaten to pierce their heart if they didn’t take her to see her friends. She wasn’t supposed to be attached to anyone because that made things complicated, but she couldn’t help it.

Raven, Octavia and Lincoln had been kind to her and they fought by her side. She wasn’t going to be selfish and abandon them. No, she was going to get out of here with them. She wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to pull that off yet while she was in the lion’s den, but she had to find a way. Sadly, she knew it was too late for Octavia either way. By now Octavia was one of them.

The doors opened and clicked shut a beat later. Maybe blowing out the candles to cast the room in darkness wasn’t a good idea. Those nightly creatures shouldn’t have left wood with her.

Clarke was about to leap and attack the monster when a flashlight flicked on. Her jaw dropped when she saw it was just a little boy who wasn’t even in his teens yet. She felt tears well up; hoping to whatever god was out there that this child wasn’t one of those creatures. She quickly hid the piece of wood behind her back when the boy shone the flashlight around.

The boy tiptoed towards the bed like he was exploring the room.

Clarke wasn’t sure whether he was a vampire or someone they held captive. She snuck up on him and covered his mouth with her hand while hoping he wasn’t going to bite her. The boy didn’t feel cold, which meant he was human.

“Hmpf,” the boy muffled, wriggling in Clarke’s grip.

Clarke wondered if her theory about reproduction was right, although this boy was older than the apocalypse, but that didn’t mean vampires weren’t already forcing humans to reproduce years before that. Raven and Octavia had mentioned how a man back in Texas had warned everyone about vampires even before the apocalypse began.

This boy had walked into the room; they had unlocked the door for him. Maybe this boy was valuable to those creatures somehow, which meant she could use him as leverage. Not that she would let this innocent little boy get hurt, but he could be her ticket to see her friends. She wanted to tell him to stop wriggling so much, though she couldn’t draw any unwanted attention.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lexa took two bags of blood from the dungeons and made her way to the room where she kept the newborn. On her way there, she passed several of her people.

“Are you certain it is wise to let this girl live?” Indra asked, down on one knee while she looked up at Lexa.

“You dare question my judgment?” Lexa asked in turn, not appreciating it when her authority was being undermined. First Anya, now Indra, both in different ways, but both disrespectful. “We need the girl to control the hunter,” she said, which was the sole reason why she hadn’t got rid of the girl herself. It was a shame the girl got bit, since she was obviously the youngest of the humans they found.

“Heda, if Azgeda learns of the hunter and of the boy-”

“They shall not,” Lexa said sharply. “Go train Aden,” she commanded without sparing Indra another glance.

“Sha, Heda.”

Lexa waited until the lock of the door clicked shut. She walked over to the bed where the girl was writhing. The girl was sweating cold sweat and almost all of the color had drained from her face by now. Ten hours had passed yet the girl was still fighting the venom, which meant her spirit was strong, though she couldn’t fight it forever.

She put the bags of blood down and reached for the tin bowl with water. She wrung the washcloth and dabbed it at the girl’s forehead. The sooner the girl would give in to the venom the sooner the pain would end. No matter how much the girl would fight it, she was going to become a vampire.

“You are needlessly torturing yourself,” she said to the girl. It wasn’t that she cared whether the girl was in pain or not, but all of her writhing sounded annoying.

“I don’t want to be a cold one,” the girl whimpered.

The alternative was dying. Lexa knew some people didn’t want to live as a vampire, but she needed this girl to control the hunter, so death wasn’t an option. She tore one of the bags of blood open and dipped her finger in the liquid, it was warm and fresh.

The girl spluttered as Lexa pushed her finger into her mouth.

Lexa extended enough patience for this girl to turn; she had to speed up the process. She felt fangs had begun to form in the girl’s mouth. For a moment she thought she had her, but when she pulled her finger away to dip it in the blood again, the girl spit the blood out of her mouth.

“You cannot stop this,” she said as she emptied the bag of blood on top of the girl.

She both admired and hated the girl’s spirit to fight. If the girl didn’t feed within twenty-four hours she would perish and she already lost almost half of the time she had. If the girl wasn’t going to cooperate, she would force the blood down her throat. Maybe she had to get her out in the sun to encourage her.

“Heda,” Indra said as she burst in the room. “Aden is not in his chambers.”

Lexa let go of the girl. “Feed her by all means necessary,” she commanded before leaving. Her robe swooshed up in the air as she moved to locate Aden.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Clarke didn’t jump when the doors swung open with so much force the hinges gave away. She wasn’t sure what she expected to happen, but she was surprised to see the vampire queen looked pissed. There were veins around Lexa’s eyes which gave away what she already knew, that she was a vampire, one of those monsters and yet it didn’t make her any less pleasing to look at. Dammit, she must have truly been drugged to have any kind of non-negative thoughts about the vampire whatsoever.

Lexa’s blood thirst was strong and if this had been any other mundane, she would have torn their throat out by now, but this was Clarke, the human who belonged to her. She felt at a loss, torn between being unable to hurt Clarke while at the same time wanting to protect Aden.

Clarke saw the veins around Lexa’s eyes disappear like snow in the sun. “You will meet my demands or else...,” she said, eyes flicking down to the boy she was holding.

“You threaten an innocent, defenseless child?” Lexa asked in utter disbelief. This was not how she imagined her soulbond to be. Someone so connected to her, linked to her, destined to be with her, would never hurt a child just as she wouldn’t. She did what a queen should never do, she kneeled. “Please don’t hurt him,” she whispered, doing another thing a queen should never do; beg.

Clarke dropped the piece of wood for the second time today. She was hit with a feeling that she was being the monster instead of Lexa. “I just…,” she said, feeling a little uneasy as she let go of the boy. “I just want to see my friends, see if they’re okay.”

“Heda!”

Clarke was absolutely godsmacked as the boy practically sprinted towards Lexa and flung himself around her neck. She did not see that coming at all.

Lexa took Aden’s hands in hers and observed him. “Are you okay?” she asked, noticing he looked a bit shaken, but otherwise fine. It was a slight relief when the boy nodded. “Why are you in these chambers, Aden?”

Aden pulled his arms away and clasped his hands behind his back. “I was curious,” he answered, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “I wanted to see the friend you brought home for me.”

 _Home._ Clarke’s mind spun at that. And friend? What was that all about?

“I believe I need to have a word with my people,” Lexa said, observing, humored, as the two men who were near the door rushed away. She turned Aden around and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Aden, this is Clarke, Clarke, this is Aden.”

“Hi, Aden,” Clarke said, a little awkward as she shuffled towards him. “I’m sorry about before.”

Lexa whispered in Aden’s ear to go train with Indra. “Come, Clarke,” she said, beckoning her as she made to leave.

Clarke frowned, still unsure what exactly the vampire wanted from her. “Where are we going?” she asked while she followed Lexa.

“You wish to see your friends, do you not?” Lexa asked, calm and collected as if she wasn’t raging with blood thirst moments ago when Aden was used as leverage. She would stay true to her word, she wouldn’t harm Clarke. Something told her the blonde would never hurt Aden.

“I do,” Clarke confirmed. Her eyes had trouble adjusting when the halls grew darker the further they walked, until she couldn’t see a single thing. She didn’t like not being able to see, didn’t like darkness. It wasn’t that she feared the dark. It was her knowledge those nightly creatures could see in the dark while humans couldn’t.

Lexa stopped walking the moment Clarke was no longer following her. “Clarke?”

Clarke shivered because Lexa was whispering in her ear and it was precisely things like that why she didn’t like her surroundings to be pitch-black. “I can’t even see where I’m walking,” she answered with a frustrated sigh. Cool fingers touched hers, entwined with hers. It was cold and foreign, holding a vampire’s hand. Lexa’s grip felt tight, but gentle enough not to teeter on the edge of crushing.

“I will guide you,” Lexa said, her voice apparently startling Clarke who nearly pulled away from her grip. “The dark is not as scary as it seems.”

“What? I’m not scared of the dark,” Clarke huffed. She was offended the vampire would think that. She didn’t survive the apocalypse on her own for three years to be accused of being scared of the dark. “I can hear the smirk in your voice, you know. You don’t have to sound so satisfied.”

Lexa pulled Clarke closer and placed her finger under her chin. “You do not know what I sound like when I am satisfied,” she whispered, ghosting the breath she didn’t need over Clarke’s lips.

Clarke didn’t like how strangely attracted she felt, to a vampire! Bloody hell this was all kinds of wrong. It felt like being intoxicated and aching for more. Even Lexa’s breath was icy cold and she knew damn well vampires didn’t breathe, so she knew she was being taunted.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” Clarke bit out.

Lexa smiled and led Clarke further by her hand. “We need not be enemies, Clarke,” she whispered softly.

Clarke hated Lexa for being such a smooth fucker. She hated how soft her voice was and she was quite sure she popped the K when she pronounced her name on purpose. This was the most infuriating vampire she ever met and she wanted to kill her while wanting to kiss her at the same time.

“You are my enemy because you ruined the world as I knew it, so shut up, Lexa,” Clarke grumbled.

A hand curled around Clarke’s throat and obstructed her from breathing.

Lexa was stunned Clarke accused her personally of ruining the world while it was Azgeda who caused the apocalypse. She never wanted the world to end up this way, to fall into decay. “Luna,” she growled lowly at the vampire who had her hand wrapped around the human’s throat.

Clarke gasped for air she wasn’t getting. The cold hand around her throat had an iron grip. She felt a little lightheaded.

Lexa knew Luna was acting on her behalf, she knew nobody was allowed to disrespect her. As far as her people were concerned, the human was out of line when she told her to shut up. Again, if this hadn’t been Clarke, she would have suffocated her herself.

“Em l'an,” _(She’s mine)_ Lexa told Luna, stating her claim. “Jomp em op en yu jomp ai op.” _(Attack her and you attack me)_

Clarke drew in a sharp breath when the vampire released her. She rubbed at her sore throat, unable to breathe all over again – albeit for different reasons – when Lexa’s cool fingertips touched her throat with such care she wanted to believe she meant it when she said she had no intentions of harming her.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I randomly felt inspired to write this and I'll never not be bitter about the event that shall not be named.  
> Lexa, Anya, Lincoln and Aden are alive, suck on that cw. 
> 
> Soulbond isn't the same as soulmates, but it also runs deep and has similarities.  
> 


End file.
